Editor’s Note: Several months before the ANS news magazine went online seven years ago, Mike Adams, a.k.a. the Health Ranger, published his thoughts on astrology and astrology’s critics on his Natural News.com website. In the current moment his caustic and timeless insights on the subject are worth revisiting…

Mention the word astrology and skeptics go into an epileptic fit.The idea that someone’s personality could be imprinted at birth according to the position of the Sun, Moon and planets has long been derided as “quackery” by the so-called scientific community, which resists any notion based on holistic connections between individuals and the cosmos.

According to the conventional view, your genes and your parenting determine your personality, and the position of planet Earth at the time of your birth has nothing to do with it.

Then again, conventional scientists don’t believe the position of the Moon has anything to do with life on Earth, either. They dismiss the wisdom that farmers have known for ages – that panting seeds or transplanting living plants in harmony with Moon cycles results in higher crop yields. Even the seeds inside humans are strongly influenced by the moon, as menstruation cycles and Moon cycles are closely synchronized (28 days, roughly).

Researchers Demonstrate Scientific Principle of Astrology

Skeptics must be further bewildered by the new research published in Nature Neuroscience and conducted by Vanderbilt University, which unintentionally provides scientific support for the fundamental principle of astrology – namely, that the position of the planets at your time of birth influences your personality.

In this study, not only did the birth month impact personality, it also resulted in measurable functional changes in the brain.

This study, conducted on mice, showed that mice born in the winter showed a “consistent slowing” of their daytime activity. They were also more susceptible to symptoms we might call “Seasonal Affective Disorder.”

The study was carried out by Professor of Biological Sciences Douglas McMahon, graduate student Chris Ciarleglio, post-doctoral fellow Karen Gamble and two additional graduate students, none of whom believe in astrology, apparently. They do, of course, believe in science, which is why all their study findings have been draped in the language of science even though the findings are essentially supporting the principles of astrology.

“What is particularly striking about our results is the fact that the imprinting affects both the animal’s behavior and the cycling of the neurons in the master biological clock in their brains,” said Ciarleglio. This is one of the core principals of astrology: That the position of planets at the time of your birth (which might be called the season of your birth) can actually result in changes in your brain physiology, which impact lifelong behavior.

Once again, such an idea sounds preposterous to the scientifically trained, unless of course they discover it for themselves, at which time it’s all suddenly very scientific.Instead of calling it astrology they’re now referring to it as seasonal biology.

How to Discredit Real Science

It all reminds me of the discovery of cold fusion in 1989 by Fleishmann and Pons, who were widely ridiculed by the arrogant hot fusion researchers who tried to destroy the credibility (and careers) of cold fusion researchers. After the very idea of cold fusion was attacked and demolished by these arrogant scientists, it soon returned under a new name: Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR).

LENR has now been verified as true by none other than the U.S. Navy – along with hundreds of other researchers around the world.And yet, even today, the conventional scientific community still insists cold fusion doesn’t exist and cold fusion researchers are frauds.

Just as there is a solid scientific basis for LENR, there is a scientific basis for astrology, too.The relationship between the Earth, Moon and Sun naturally alter light exposure, temperature, gravitational pull and other conditions that may be sensed by living organisms. To believe astrology all that’s really required is to grasp the basic concepts of the interrelationships between all living things.Does the position of the Sun or Moon influence life on Earth?Of course it does: Life as we know it wouldn’t even exist without the Moon tugging on Earth and preventing its rotational axis from shifting around to the point where radical changes in seasonal temperatures would make life far more challenging.

The Moon, in other words, is one of the key stabilizers of life on planet Earth because it tends to stabilize the seasons and keep the Earth on a steady rotational plane.

None of this, of course, means that the position of Saturn today is going to make you win the lottery or find a new love.That’s the tabloid version of astrology, not real astrology.

Don’t Confuse Tabloid Astrology with Real Astrology

Even astronomy has its tabloid versions, too, which are entirely non-scientific.For example, every model of our solar system that I’ve seen is a wildly inaccurate tabloid version of reality, with planet sizes ridiculously exaggerated and planet distances not depicted to scale. These silly, non-scientific solar system models imprint a kind of solar system mythology into the minds of school children and even school teachers. Virtually no one outside the communities of astrophysics and astronomy has any real grasp of the enormity of not merely our solar system, but our galaxy and the space between neighboring galaxies.

To show a giant Sun the size of a basketball, with a depiction of the Earth as a marble-size planet three inches away is the astronomical equivalent of a gimmicky horoscope claiming you’re going to win the lottery today because you were born under the sign of Pisces.Both are fictions.And both are an insult to real science.

In fact, even the whole idea that an electron is a piece of physical matter, made up of other particles is an insult to real science.The sobering truth of the matter is that particle physics doesn’t have much to do with actual particles at all.It’s all about energies that might, on occasion, vibrate in just the right way so that they momentarily appear to take on the illusion of a particle as measured by our observers – observers who inevitably alter the outcome of the entire experiment, by the way, once again proving the interrelated nature of things in our universe, including observer and experiment.

The horoscope predictions in the Sunday paper – as well as much of the hilarious mythology found in the modern description of an atom – are both simplified, comic-book variations of a larger truth.The larger truth is we live in a holistic universe where every bit of physical matter, every bit of energy and every conscious mind impacts the rest of the universe in subtle ways. There is no such thing as an individual who is isolated from the cosmos, because we are of the cosmos and we exist as the physical manifestations of energies that, for our lifetimes, are momentarily organized as beings.

We are made of star stuff, says (the late) Carl Sagan. He’s right: We are not only made of star stuff, we are influenced by that stuff, too.And, finally, modern science is beginning to catch up to this greater truth that astrologers have known since the dawn of human existence on our tiny planet.

First Quarter lunar and solar eclipses bearing down on POTUS

Things will not be getting any easier for the embattled President of the United States in the weeks and months ahead, financial astrologer Grace K. Morris, MA, writes in her Astro Economic Stock Market Newsletter.

The stock market has been on a record-setting tear, which usually bodes well for the political fortunes of the party in power. The market and the economy should continue be just fine, but Morris says lunar and solar eclipse patterns in the first quarter of 2018 don’t bode well for a President whose approval ratings continue to crater.

This story actually began last year, when the solar eclipse of August 15, 2017 conjoined (occurred in the same zodiacal degree) as planet Mars in President Trump’s natal horoscope.The ancients knew Mars as the God of War and the planet today is symbolically linked to conflict, war and anger.

“The eclipse path crossed the continental U.S., dividing it diagonally in half from the Northwest to the Southeast. Because the eclipse moved over the U.S. the leader of the country was affected,” Morris explained.

Name Calling Game

Last summer, in sync with the August eclipse, the President did appear to become even more bombastic and upped his dangerous name-calling game with North Korea’s leader (little Rocket Man). He attacked existing treaties with other nations, scuttled trade agreements, waged an aggressive war of words with enemies on Capitol Hill, and even sparred with players of the National Football League.

Morris says eclipses cannot be held responsible for a President’s erratic behavior, but they can be especially useful as a tool for timing explosive, game-altering events.

For most of his time in office the Russia obstruction of justice investigation has threatened the new Administration, and in August the solar eclipse at 28 degrees of Leo coincided with the exit of several Trump administration staffers.Included on this list was senior advisor Steve Bannon who had unflattering things to say about the President and some of his family members in a new book, Fire and Fiery by Michael Wolff.

“Because the August eclipse conjoined the President’s Mars the actions happening did not affect him directly. But this may be about to change,” Morris said.

The 2018 lunar eclipse on January 31 at 11 degrees of Aquarius will oppose planet Pluto in President Trump’s birth chart. Days later, the February 15 solar eclipse in Aquarius will oppose his Mars. “The effects of these oppositions should be very personal,” Morris says.

Planet Pluto is symbolically identified with explosive chaotic, transformative energies. And the ancients did not call Mars the God of War without reason.

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun. A Lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly behind the Earth and into its shadow. This can only occur when the Sun, Earth and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle.

On January 31, a full, so-called Blue Moon will pass through the Earth’s shadow, creating a total lunar eclipse in the sign of Aquarius. A Blue Moon occurs when there are two full Moons in one calendar month. The January 31 lunation will be the first Blue Moon total eclipse visible in North America and Hawaii in 150 years.

Themes Repeating

Morris anticipates that the coming eclipses will reignite the solar and lunar eclipses of last August, repeating many of the themes in the headlines then.

“We might expect violence, military actions and insurrections somewhere in the world before, during and after this period. Events set in motion by eclipses can last several months into the future, Morris explained.

She says the beginning of this eclipse series began in 1639 as the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) ended its war with Persia (Iran). The 1945 eclipse ended World War II and Churchill lost an election. In 1963 President Kennedy was assassinated and in 1981 President Reagan was shot on eclipses in this series. Today Turkey and Iran, as they were in 1639, are currently in a very volatile situation. They could be part of the explosive effects of the eclipses.

]]>http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/trumps-troubles-far-from-over/feed/0http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/trumps-troubles-far-from-over/Venus Smiles on Another Royal Couplehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AstrologyNewsService/~3/rci6fiFiD3k/
http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/venus-smiles-on-another-royal-couple/#commentsThu, 04 Jan 2018 01:13:24 +0000http://astrologynewsservice.com/?p=2392When Harry met Meghan a royal romance predictably followed

Thanks to advances in information processing technologies astrologers today are better equipped to find answers for many of life’s more perplexing questions. Like why and when do couples become couples and what drives them apart?

In an ongoing study Australian astrologer Paul Westran says he continues to find statistical support for the relational roles played by the Sun and planet Venus as they progress through the compared birth charts of couples. The latest evidence for Venusian involvement in affairs of the heart can be observed in the birth charts of Britain’s newest Royal couple, Prince Harry and his American fiancée Meghan Markle.

“Like Prince William and Kate Middleton before them, Prince Harry and Meghan will have the planet identified with love and attraction celestially supporting their union for a period of time that extends well into the future,” he said.

One of the main methods astrologers use to evaluate compatibility in couples is called synastry. In a synastry consultation astrologers typically evaluate and compare the angular relationships formed between the Sun, Moon and planets in the compared natal birth charts of romantically linked couples.

Some of the angles or aspects formed between planets in these charts are favorable or easy while others are hard or challenging. At issue is whether the Sun, Moon and planetary placements in her natal birth chart favorably align with the Sun, Moon and planets in his?

Impressive Results

In a scientific study of more than 1,300 public record relationships, Westran was able to statistically demonstrate that planet Venus appears to significantly impact compatibility in couples in predictable ways, a trend that persisted as the number of couples tested in this manner climbed above 3,000.

Early on, Westran noticed that favorable synastry aspects between the Sun and Venus were turning up in the compared natal birth charts of romantically involved couples more frequently than expected by chance. But he also observed that planets in compared natal charts are fixed and remain the same while people and relationships change and grow closer – or drift apart.

How does astrology explain this?

Westran thinks a plausible answer to this question continues to emerge from a systematic research effort aimed at merging synastry aspects with another well established technique astrologers call secondary progressions.

When astrological students are first introduced to the subject they learn that astrology deals with angles the Sun, Moon and planets form between each other as they hurtle through space at orbital speeds dictated by the varying distances between them. “Different angles symbolize different relationships, correspondences or outcomes,” he said.

Astrologers use secondary progressions to help time events in people’s personal lives. Simply, with this technique, they calculate how far the Sun, Moon and planets have progressed around the horoscope wheel using a day for a year formula. For every year that passes, the Sun, Moon and planets are advanced the same number of degrees on the horoscope wheel that they have actually traveled through space in a single year, either forward or backwards (if retrograde).

The Moon orbits the Earth – and the planets orbit the Sun – at widely varying but predictable speeds. The Moon makes a great deal of progress around the horoscope wheel in a single year; distant Pluto not so much, he explains.

In the information age, high-speed computer programs make it relatively easy to create progressed birth charts. For example, for someone who just turned 30, the astrologer simply counts forward 30 days from the individual’s date of birth and casts a progressed birth chart for this date. It’s the astrologer’s task to compare and analyze how the progressed planets interact with natal planets in the individual’s birth chart.

Westran thinks a plausible answer to this question continues to emerge from a systematic research effort aimed at merging synastry aspects with another well established technique astrologers call secondary progressions.

When astrological students are first introduced to the subject they learn that astrology deals with angles the Sun, Moon and planets form between each other as they hurtle through space at orbital speeds dictated by the varying distances between them. “Different angles symbolize different relationships, correspondences or outcomes,” he said.

Astrologers use secondary progressions to help time events in people’s personal lives. Simply, with this technique, they calculate how far the Sun, Moon and planets have progressed around the horoscope wheel using a day for a year formula. For every year that passes, the Sun, Moon and planets are advanced the same number of degrees on the horoscope wheel that they have actually traveled through space in a single year, either forward or backwards (if retrograde).

The Moon orbits the Earth – and the planets orbit the Sun – at widely varying but predictable speeds. The Moon makes a great deal of progress around the horoscope wheel in a single year; distant Pluto not so much, he explains.

In the information age, high-speed computer programs make it relatively easy to create progressed birth charts. For example, for someone who just turned 30, the astrologer simply counts forward 30 days from the individual’s date of birth and casts a progressed birth chart for this date. It’s the astrologer’s task to compare and analyze how the progressed planets interact with natal planets in the individual’s birth chart.

Sophisticated Software

However, relying on progressed synastry charts to check out compatibility in couples is problematic because, as noted, people and relationships change. Westran addressed this conundrum by creating a sophisticated software program to track changing planetary positions in the compared birth charts of couples.

He says progressed synastry aspects create a new dynamic. For example, when comparing natal birth charts, Venus in her chart may not be forming a favorable synastry aspect to the Sun or Venus in his. However, years later when the couple first meets, Venus may have progressed to form a favorable progressed synastry aspect with either his Sun or Venus.

“We often see relationships begin when hen this happens. Also, how long the progressed aspect remains in orb (operational) has been shown to influence the relationship’s longevity,” he added.

In his study Westran compared synastry aspects between natal Sun and natal Venus, natal Sun and progressed Venus, progressed Sun and natal Venus, and progressed Sun and progressed Venus. He found that when couples become involved in romantic relationships a favorable 120 degree trine aspect between the Sun and Venus turns up in one of these combinations far more often than expected by chance. The same applies to the conjunction and 180 degree opposition aspects, but the stressful 90 degree square is conspicuous by its absence.

Westran says the odds that progressed Sun – Venus synastry aspects turn up as often as they do at the start of relationships are 900,000 to one against chance. Certain synastry alignments of Venus with Venus and Venus with Mars also present at the start of relationships with statistical significance, but the results are less impressive.

“With an increased level of certainty we can now say why couples become couples. We don’t know with certainty what keeps people together but we have a better idea about what gets them together,” he said.

Royal Evidence

The research astrologer reports that aspects involving the Sun and Venus have turned up regularly in progressed synastry charts for couples in Britain’s Royal Family. For example, Prince Charles and Diana came together when Charles’ progressed Venus was forming a trine to Diana’s progressed Sun. However, the relationship began to unravel once this aspect became exact and started to wane.

In contrast, for Royals William and Kate, a long-lived trine involving Kate’s progressed Venus and William’s natal Venus was forming when the couple met in 2000. Due to retrograde motion this aspect will not separate until 2030, at which time the couple will be able to rely upon other helpful aspects.

Westran notes that Wallis Simpson, an American, had already been married twice when she met Prince Edward Windsor in 1934. At the time a progressed Sun – Venus conjunction in the couple’s progressed synastry chart was exact.

The Prince became King Edward VIII in 1936 when his father, King George V, died. Wallis divorced her second husband Ernest in 1937 in order to marry Edward, but the House of Windsor created impenetrable roadblocks. Edward chose to abdicate the throne and marry Simpson. Although the couple was ostracized by the establishment they enjoyed a happy marriage in Paris until Edward’s death in 1972, Westran said, adding:

“Their story is most often seen as a triumph of love over duty. But, while grieving by his coffin, Wallis reportedly was overheard saying: he gave up so much for so little.”

Harry and Meghan also began their relationship under the same progressed Sun progressed Venus aspect when it was exact. These combinations “act like windows of opportunity for relationships to begin, but also tend to fade when the when the Sun and Venus move on,” Westran said.

“Like Wallis, Meghan is an American divorcee. Only in 2017 this, apparently, is no longer an issue for the British establishment. Indeed it might be seen as a major plus. In a world of inclusivity and merit the world expects its icons to show an example of realism and understanding of the problems faced by people everywhere.

“This is the case for human relationships, including marriages, as the world now understands that relationships don’t always work out, that people change and marriages fail. For all the promises made with authenticity and good intensions circumstances will prevail. What astrological connections give you is a little advantage.

“Astrology provides an exceptional tool to explore human consciousness. It’s exciting that we can use it to help understand why people change and the element of timing associated with it,” Westran said.

In addition to developing a software program to track progressed synastry aspects Westran created a unique graphing system to visually display when the progressed synastry aspects begin, become exact and separate – as shown below.

]]>http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/venus-smiles-on-another-royal-couple/feed/0http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/venus-smiles-on-another-royal-couple/Kepler Conference to Showcase Astrological Researchhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AstrologyNewsService/~3/ngwFTP8HJBU/
http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/kepler-conference-to-showcase-astrological-research/#commentsMon, 18 Dec 2017 19:36:19 +0000http://astrologynewsservice.com/?p=2387Though few seem to notice, astrology has been advancing on the front lines of science for decades, astrologer Courtney Roberts, MA, reports in an article for the December-January issue of The Mountain Astrologer (TMA) magazine.

“New astrological research results are piling up, thanks to the heroic efforts of dogged researchers who are working away unfunded and largely unnoticed. We have our heroes, those who have made every sacrifice to stand up to skeptical pseudo-science.

“They all deserve support and recognition,” she writes.

Roberts is organizer of the Kepler Conference, an annual event to showcase the latest efforts by research astrologers to test the efficacy of astrological truth claims. The 2018 conference was originally scheduled for January 25 -28 in Cape Canaveral, Fla., but the recent hurricane season forced organizers to reconsider plans.

The Kepler staff moved the international conference online after Irma ripped away the beach and destroyed infrastructure at the conference venue. The dates for the online conference remain the same.

Roberts is director of Florida-based Canaveral Research. She is a graduate of the MA program in Cultural Astronomy at Bath Spa University (UK), and her academic specialization is the role of astrology in the history of science.

“Johannes Kepler was a passionately spiritual scientist who was one of astrology’s foremost researchers. The idea for an international conference named in his honor arose out of a meeting with astrological researcher and software developer David Cochrane in 2015.

“Both David and I envisioned an annual research conference to deliberately cultivate the growing body of astrological research results. The response from the community was swift and heartening,” she said, adding:

“Astrologers and researchers from five continents gathered at the beach on Florida’s Space Coast to share their most promising work at the first Kepler Conference in 2017.”

Roberts says the conference organizers aim to deliberately compile and compound the evidence for planetary influence, and to encourage the replication and publication of research results. The desired overall endgame is a genuinely evidence-based astrology with reliable products and services.

Many of the world’s leading research astrologers will be participating in the online conference. Program details can be found here.

]]>http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/kepler-conference-to-showcase-astrological-research/feed/0http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/kepler-conference-to-showcase-astrological-research/Is Planet Earth Running Out of Time?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AstrologyNewsService/~3/zchIvS_ZauE/
http://astrologynewsservice.com/opinion/is-planet-earth-running-out-of-time/#commentsMon, 27 Nov 2017 21:08:07 +0000http://astrologynewsservice.com/?p=2381Boldly going where no one has gone before will be no stroll in the park

The idea of boldly going where no one has gone before may be plausible one day, but for now getting as far as Mars is proving to be a stretch for us fragile, earth-bound humans. More than unbridled enthusiasm and technological audacity will be needed to physically propel the species much deeper into space than that.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced ambitious plans to send humans to the Red Planet in the 2030s. Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking isn’t the only scientist encouraging the space agency to get a move on.

Hawking’s sense of urgency is based on his growing concern that planet Earth has only about 600 human years left, or roughly about the amount of time that has elapsed between the Renaissance period and the Modern Era. By 2617, the world’s mounting population will consume enough energy to render the world a “ball of fire,” according to a quote attributed to Hawking by the British newspaper Metro.

Only scare talk?

The world and the technology that pushes it have come a long way since Leonardo da Vinci, a leading figure of the Italian Renaissance, added the finishing brushstrokes to his widely celebrated portrait of the mystery woman the world knows as Mona Lisa. What we’re experiencing today is progress at a pace that is exhilarating and inspiring but a bit over-the-top at times. Clearly the stakes are high.

While it’s never a good idea to short-sell human ingenuity, there are a number of daunting challenges to sort and overcome before anyone on the planet will be ready to shop for real estate elsewhere in the galaxy. In addition to technology challenges, long distance travel in space brings with it a unique set of physical and mental health issues, says Marc Jurblum, a training psychiatrist at the University of Melbourne in Australia. Jurblum is a member of the Space Life Sciences Committee of the Australasian Society of Aerospace Medicine and provides this sobering observation:

“On earth, tiny gyroscopes in your brain give you spatial awareness. They tell you when you tilt your head, accelerate or change position. But it’s different in space. In Zero G, those don’t work as well and, as a result, astronauts suffer a lot of nausea. Most spend days feeling incredibly unwell. It’s like being seasick.

“Just like people going to sea eventually get their sea legs, astronauts develop space legs within about two weeks. But once they return to earth many have to work hard to get their Earth legs back,” he said.

There are worse things, like the mental stress that comes with living in cramped quarters while floating through space in an airless vacuum. Astronauts are well aware of the dangers posed by radiation, and by streaking micro-meteorites that could abruptly end their mission at any time.

Research groups are looking at how space travelers can maintain mental health in dangerous, extreme environments. They’re looking into interventions, such as meditation, and at the positive impact pictures of nature can have on space travelers. Jurblum suggests Virtual Reality might help by giving the astronauts a rest from monotony. But we’re a very long way from losing our cares in the holodeck of the Starship Enterprise. Or from feeling the familiar tug of gravity at our feet as we stroll familiar corridors of the starship in the desired upright position.

Anger Management

On earth, if people get upset with their boss or workmate they might take out their frustrations at home or in the gym. In space, astronauts can’t afford to get angry with each other. They must be able to react really quickly, communicate and work as a team, Jurblum says.

The lack of gravity in space plays havoc with the human body. Our muscles are so used to fighting gravity on Earth that its absence means they weaken and waste. On the International Space Station (ISS) astronauts must do two to three hours of exercise daily just to maintain muscle mass and cardiovascular fitness in this Zero G environment. It would be extremely dangerous if the heart muscle was not maintained through exercise, Jurblum said.

A common hazard on the ISS is the fine specks that float around the cabin, often lodging in the eyes of astronauts and causing abrasions. Most end up wearing glasses in space, and when they return some have permanent changes to their vision.

But it’s the lack of gravity and the movement of fluids that cause the most serious issues for astronauts In weightless space. Body fluids shift to the head, build up in the skull, and bulge into the back of the eyeball, changing the shape of the lens. “The bulging seems to cause the irreversible vision problems we’re trying to understand,” Jurblum said.

“It’s not clear why but bacteria are more dangerous in space. And the human immune system doesn’t seem to work as well either in this environment. If you sneeze in space all of the droplets come straight out and keep going. If someone has the flu everyone is going to get it, and there are limited medical facilities and a very long way to the nearest hospital,” he said, adding:

“Dealing with major medical emergencies in space is problematic. While a rescue from the ISS can be performed within a day, the people who go to Mars will be on an eight-month journey and need to be prepared to manage on their own.”

A Long Shot?

Given how far we’ve already come, many believe that over the next 400 years the citizens of planet Earth should find a way to build spaceships with enough juice to reach other star systems. However, despite the enthusiasm generated for this idea by Hawking and others, intergalactic space travel remains a long shot. Blame time, mass and distance.

The nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, is about 25 trillion miles from earth, or about 300,000 times the distance from Earth to the Sun. With current rocket propulsion technology, it would take tens or hundreds of millennia to reach our nearest stellar neighbors.

The current thinking in high-tech circles is we can improve on that timeline. Hawking and others are pulling for the Breakthrough Starshot Project, which involves ultra-light miniature space probes that are attached to lightsails and blown through space at speeds up to 100 million miles per hour. The fully functional, miniaturized probes are built on a single circuit board and weigh just four grams. But they contain miniaturized solar panels, computers, sensors, and radios – everything they’ll need for an exploratory journey to the nearest star.

Last July, the Breakthrough Starshot Project successfully launched a number of prototype “Sprites” into Low Earth Orbit as the first step in a program with far reaching plans. Pete Worden, the former director of NASA’s Ames Research Center, now oversees the Breakthrough Starshot project. If all goes well, sometime after the middle of the century we’ll have our first pictures of another planet, possibly life-bearing, orbiting our nearest stellar neighbor, he says.

More Questions:

The tiny probe will zip past Mars in less than an hour and reach the Alpha Centauri system in just over 20 years. Upon arrival, the probe will start beaming home images of possible habitable planets orbiting Alpha Centauri. Assuming that a larger spacecraft based on the Breakthrough Starshot concept could eventually mass-deliver humanity to the new location, we’d still be staring down a logistical nightmare. How many will be hardy enough to make such a trip in what size ships? And what would future human travelers be able to bring along with them to their new digs? Are we talking Adam and Eve or hoards of anxious folks and a few of their animal friends? How many passages might it take to transport a representative sample of humanity to the new New World?

An issue that scientists tend to ignore goes to the fundamental nature of human existence. Are we simply the end product of a mysterious evolutionary process that has blessed us with the intellectual wherewithal to manipulate the environment and assuage our survival needs? Or is something else going on?

Does everything we know – or think we know – originate within our hard-wired, insular brain? Or are we part of a larger, interconnected reality that draws upon the cadence, location and disposition of other planetary bodies in our solar system? Are we, as astrologers claim, effectively tethered to a reality that, among other things, relies upon Mars to initiate action, Mercury to help rationalize our existence, and Venus to attract the help we’ll need to sustain momentum on whatever course we set? Can we even exist without celestial prompting?

Astrologers do relocation charts for those who move from their place of birth to somewhere else on planet Earth. But what happens to our relocated birth charts when we move to Mars? Or colonize our own Moon or one of the many moons orbiting other major planets in the solar system?

From an astrological perspective, most practitioners place Earth at the center of the universe. But a birth chart with all the usual suspects (planets) can be drawn up placing Mars or any other habitable location we find elsewhere in the solar system at the symbolic center of things. But what happens if/when we untie our moorings and shoot for Alpha Centauri? Can we even exist without the familiar celestial promptings of the planetary bodies that orbit our Sun in predictable orbital patterns?

The Overview Effect

Jurblum describes a positive psychological phenomenon of space travel known as the “overview effect.” Most astronauts who have gone into space come back with a change of perspective. They become environmentalists or more spiritual or religious. NASA astronaut Ron Garon described it as “…the realization that we are all traveling together on the planet and that if we all looked at the world from that perspective we would see that nothing is impossible.”

Perhaps, as Hawking suggests, our world has only six centuries left before it implodes due to a plethora of problems related to being excessively human. Or perhaps we’ll find some other way?

Why aren’t more people thinking about such things?

]]>http://astrologynewsservice.com/opinion/is-planet-earth-running-out-of-time/feed/0http://astrologynewsservice.com/opinion/is-planet-earth-running-out-of-time/Book Review: Hellenistic Astrology: The Study of Fate and Fortunehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AstrologyNewsService/~3/uYcoF7NNLpg/
http://astrologynewsservice.com/book-reviews/book-review-hellenistic-astrology-the-study-of-fate-and-fortune-3/#commentsMon, 13 Nov 2017 20:12:49 +0000http://astrologynewsservice.com/?p=2374Astrologers are fond of saying that their discipline is thousands of years old

Astrologers are fond of saying that their discipline is thousands of years old, that it is rooted in timeless observation through millennia, and that it began to be codified deep in ancient times. While they’re right about those things, until very recently it has been difficult to sort out just what began when and where.

Until the 1990s, relatively few translations of ancient astrology texts were available. It was in the early years of that decade that a dedicated group of astrologers became determined to discover the roots of astrology. For some, it involved learning Greek and Latin, not to mention decoding obscure astrological terms that had been out of use for centuries.

Like any other field of knowledge, astrology has changed over time. There are multiple ‘original’ sources, and each has developed in a unique way. Many have spread to new geographic locations, where they are perceived and utilized by new cultures, and where they often blend with other forms of astrology. Various philosophical and religious traditions have left their marks on the diverse kinds of astrology, as well. Perhaps most importantly, humans have evolved different and more complex ways of thinking and feeling, and astrology has evolved along with our consciousness.

After a relatively fallow period, astrology began to reemerge in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, reaching a new flowering in the 1970s and 80s that has continued to today. During the early decades of this reemergence, there was a tendency to view ancient astrology as more primitive and less sophisticated than modern astrology – despite little direct knowledge of ancient astrology. The work of scholars since the 1990s has done much to dispel that perception of ancient astrology, but none has approached the subject as thoroughly as Hellenistic Astrology by Chris Brennan, a book that represents a significant milestone in astrological scholarship.

The book is thick and looks somewhat intimidating (but for the same reason also looks great on a coffee table or bookshelf), and in fact it isn’t a book that should be skimmed lightly. On the other hand, while scholarly, Brennan keeps the book from becoming heavy. My initial fears that it would contain only technical descriptions of complex techniques turned out to be totally unfounded. In fact, the book presents some of the best and most readable accounts of the origins of astrology written thus far. The reader is indeed challenged to pay attention to the plot – but as in any good history, the effort is well rewarded with a deeper understanding of the complexities of the subject.

Hellenistic Astrology begins with several chapters on the history of astrology, honing in to astrology in the Hellenistic period. This history includes a chapter on the various known astrologers of the era – which is quite helpful for those of us who know these writers only through isolated quotes. The next section of the book takes up Hellenistic astrology itself, dealing with both philosophical and technical matters. As the book progresses, it gets more technical, although the reader who has followed along won’t be lost in jargon (although there is a great deal of terminology, it is benign in the hands of Brennan’s lucid writing). The presentation of technique is clear, and is coupled with examples and plenty of visual aids.

This book isn’t light reading (although it made fine summer reading for this astrologer), but for those with an interest in the origins of astrology, it is indispensable. It would also make an important contribution to the knowledge of those interested in classical philosophy and the culture of the Hellenistic Era. Part detective novel, part history, and part philosophy, in Hellenistic Astrology Chris Brennan shows us how Hellenistic astrologers shared a common thread of knowledge while they often differed in techniques and viewpoints. It is a fascinating read, and I highly recommend it.

]]>http://astrologynewsservice.com/book-reviews/book-review-hellenistic-astrology-the-study-of-fate-and-fortune-3/feed/0http://astrologynewsservice.com/book-reviews/book-review-hellenistic-astrology-the-study-of-fate-and-fortune-3/Is a Lunar Research Revolution on The Way?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AstrologyNewsService/~3/72vtYO0kj7U/
http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/is-a-lunar-research-revolution-on-the-way/#commentsWed, 08 Nov 2017 22:48:18 +0000http://astrologynewsservice.com/?p=2370New Lunar Effect Bibliography to aid and abet this development

Get ready for a fresh assault on dogged claims that the Moon has naught to do with those cyclical patterns that roil our emotions and rile our senses at every layer of our being.

Canadian research astrologer Peter J. Marko warns of a looming revolution that has potential to dramatically influence the way investigators approach their inquiries into all things Luna. To aid and abet this development, he has published The Lunar Effect Bibliography, a categorized, annotated and indexed list of publications on how the Moon affects our lives.

Three factors are at work fomenting the revolution in lunar research, he says.
“Research tools are continuing to improve at an exponential rate and we are on the verge of artificial intelligence technology hitting mainstream. The scientific community is gradually opening up to more and more so-called fringe ideas, including astrology, he said. “Also, future generations will not be actively distorting and hindering lunar effect research in the way their counterparts have done earlier.”

The new bibliography contains a total of 338 references to works dealing with lunar influences on humans. Of these, 266 sources are journal articles. And 185 papers (67 percent) can be considered a primary source, meaning they report original research findings. Secondary sources summarize and review primary sources.

“Each year sees the publication of four or five papers on the topic. So it’s probably safe to say that many more scientific articles on the lunar effect will be forthcoming in the years ahead,” he said.

Of the 185 primary source studies included in the book, 79 provided support for the existence of a lunar effect. Eight had inconclusive or indifferent findings, and 98 could not identify any lunar influence.

A Political Battlefield

“But there is more to this story,” he said. “Lunar effect research is viewed by some scientists as a political battlefield. Ergo, many of the papers are biased, incomplete or flawed.”

In his Lunar Effect Bibliography, Marko identified 13 such papers that claimed not to find support for the existence of a lunar effect. However, when it was later demonstrated that these 13 papers should actually be counted with those on the positive side of the ledger, the final tally was 92 papers supporting the existence of lunar influence compared with 85 papers that did not.

Lunar research has covered everything from reproduction to crime, behavior, health, accidents, personality and finance. Researchers have had mixed results with all of these subject areas except finance. In this category, eight original research papers on stock market performance and lunar cycles have had strong positive findings, without exception.

“Financial data is measurable and objective, which means that research results are more likely to hold up in replication. And this is exactly what is happening,” Marko said.
“The original research of Dichev and James (2001) examining stock markets in 25 countries was replicated by Yuan, Zeng and Zhu (2006) for 48 countries. The essential nature of findings was the same in both studies, which showed stock market returns higher around the new moon than the full moon.

“Still another study by Keef and Khaled (2011) looked at 62 stock indices around the world and also was able to replicate the earlier findings. My expectation is that future research on financial markets will show more linkages to lunar influences,” he said.

A Complex Subject

Marko thinks human reproduction is the lunar research area where we’ll likely see more positive results in the near future. A development to watch is the growing awareness by researchers that the lunar effect is much more complex than something unusual happening at the full Moon.

For example, researchers have shown that the lunar effect is not restricted to the Moon’s synodic (monthly) cycle. Also, we’ve learned men and women appear to respond to Moon differently. And if there are tidal effects in humans they should occur twice every lunar day following the semi diurnal tide and twice ever synodic month following the lunar phases, he said.

“A number of authors have commented on how spectral analysis will yield more meaningful results. At the moment, too much lunar research is binary. And this applies to all of astrology as well,” he said. “The Moon’s influence on our lives has been heavily debated by scholars, skeptics, medical professionals, research astrologers, and astronomers for the past several decades. At this time, literature on the lunar effect is scattered across 150 journals involving approximately 700 authors without a single publication dedicated to the subject.

“It is very challenging to come to scientific consensus on any topic under such circumstances. Until now not even a bibliography existed. The Lunar Effect Bibliography fills this gap and hopefully becomes a landmark publication in the field.”

]]>http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/is-a-lunar-research-revolution-on-the-way/feed/0http://astrologynewsservice.com/news/is-a-lunar-research-revolution-on-the-way/Astrology Study Validates Popular Psychology Testhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AstrologyNewsService/~3/2uHW_2JkrjU/
http://astrologynewsservice.com/articles/astrology-study-validates-popular-psychology-test/#commentsThu, 26 Oct 2017 19:21:43 +0000http://astrologynewsservice.com/?p=2346A theory advanced by one of the 20th Century’s most frequently quoted psychological experts on personality and intelligence has been validated by a 21st Century research astrologer.

British astrologer Robert Currey has statistically demonstrated a direct correlation between the primary dimensions of personality described by the late psychologist Hans Eysenck and the so-called astrological elements practitioners of the ancient art have used for centuries to describe temperament and individual personality traits.

Or it might be said that Professor Eysenck’s work tends to confirm what astrologers have been saying for a very long time (about 2,000 years). It just took awhile to sort this out empirically, Currey suggests

Eysenck was born in Berlin but fled to England in 1934 to escape the rise of Nazi power in Germany. A prolific writer, he wrote thousands of articles and nearly 100 books, and had the distinction of being the most-cited psychologist in scientific journals. The Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), a psychology test, has been used by psychologists and therapists around the globe to evaluate personality and temperament.

The native Berliner said the four-fold personality division he described in the scientific literature was inspired not by astrology but by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov, who is better known for demonstrating that dogs salivate on cue when they hear a familiar bell ring. But the astrological system predates both scientists by several centuries.

In an article for Correlation, a journal published by the Astrological Association of Great Britain, Currey explains that the signs of the Astrological Zodiac are grouped in four basic elements: fire, earth, air and water. The fire signs are Aries, Leo and Sagittarius. The earth signs are Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, and the air signs are Gemini, Libra and Aquarius. Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces are the water signs.

Common Personality Traits

Astrologers have long maintained that the three astrological signs grouped in the four elements share common personality traits or temperaments. For example, the fire signs are said to project aggressive, excitable, active, optimistic and outgoing behavior traits. Earth signs are more sober, reserved, unsociable, careful and reliable. Air signs are thoughtful, even-tempered, sociable, and talkative. And the water signs are sensitive, responsive, touchy, moody, passive, and reserved.

Currey says the idea of dividing the astrological elements into four temperament types dates at least as far back as Hippocrates in ancient Greece. His ancient model forms the basis for a number of personality typologies used by psychologists today.

In the current era, Pavlov got the ball rolling while studying the involuntary reactions of animals to stress and pain. The types he came up with were the strong impetuous type, the strong equilibrated and quiet type, the strong equilibrated and lively type, and the weak type. His research showed that all of the temperament types responded to stimuli in the same way, but different types moved through the responses at different times.

Carl Jung founded analytical psychology, advancing the idea of introvert and extrovert personalities. The four-fold personality traits described by Eysenck also included Introversion and Extraversion plus Emotional Stability and Neuroticism. Simply, Currey’s research confirmed significant correlations between Extraversion and the astrological fire signs, and between Introversion and the earth signs. He also found a similar correlation between astrological air signs and Emotional Stability. But the water and Neuroticism match-up was a washout, presumably because “Eysenck did not see water traits the way astrologers do.”

On the Same Page

Currey used data from an earlier failed study to effectively demonstrate that Eysenck and traditional astrologers were, for the most part, on the same page. The data collectors were well known astrological critic Geoffrey Dean of Perth, Australia, and college professors from universities in New Zealand and Queensland. Dean and his colleagues administered the EPI psychology test to 1,191 test subjects, most living in the Southern hemisphere. Dean later reported that he failed to find evidence supporting any connection between astrological elements and EPI test results but agreed to share the data his team collected with Currey, “a gracious gesture that gave us an opportunity to try a different approach,” the astrologer said.

The opportunity wasn’t wasted.

Experienced helping professionals recognize that people do not always slide comfortably into recognizable personas. The life process is all about contrast, complexity, multiplicity and change. However, people tend to exhibit the behavioral traits that show up during psychological testing. Or when astrologers cast a chart for the exact time and place of someone’s birth.

Like Eysenck’s EPI test, the birth chart reveals the elemental conflicts that define us; who we are and what we are likely to become are issues that loom large. Ideally, the individual birth chart will display a harmonious balance between planets residing in the different astrological elements, only this isn’t the way things work for most of us much of the time.

How the sun, moon and planets are positioned in the birth chart tells stories that are shaped by a confluence of factors related to age, gender, culture and opportunity. But individual temperament traits described by both astrological and psychological systems shine through it all. Extraverts and Introverts may modify behavioral patterns but can’t fundamentally change who they are. However, with awareness, it’s possible for the individual to positively work with and improve upon perceived elemental excesses or deficiencies.

Currey used extreme examples to statistically demonstrate the connection between astrological elements and the EPI personality test. From the sample of 1,198 subjects collected by Dean and his associates, Currey only had access to the 288 subjects whose test results showed the most extreme expressions of at least one of the four personality types. Uniquely, he compared the key descriptive words Eysenck used to describe Introversion, Extraversion, Emotional Stability and Neuroticism with key words astrologers identify with the Fire, Earth, Air and Water traits.

“This process required research into two astrological titles written before Dean’s analysis was published, which are now considered classic textbooks. These are Robert Hand’s Horoscope Symbols (1981) and Stephen Arroyo’s Astrology, Psychology and the Four Elements (1975),” he said.
Currey described his research earlier this year at the Kepler Conference in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and explained the technical methods he used to compare the key word descriptions in Correlation.

Persuasive Results

“The research establishes a fundamental and ancient tenet of astrology beyond reasonable doubt. This is the relationship between the four astrological elements and personality as measured by a psychological test. There is a 99.6 percent chance that the Fire/Earth connection with Extraversion/Introversion could not be replicated by random factors. And the odds with the Earth/Air connection with Neuroticism/Emotional Stability is 99.3 percent.” he said.

As noted earlier, water is the odd astrological element out in Currey’s research. One explanation suggested by astrologer Ken McRitchie is that the EPI does not discriminate between personality dimensions that are identifiable in a birth chart and psychological states that can be temporary and elusive. For this reason it wasn’t possible to match water signs with any one of Eysenck’s four personality types, which is an argument most astrologers can identify with.

Currey says the source of the data used in the research is reliable and independent.

“Although only extreme examples of the various temperament types were included, the research involves ordinary people. This means astrologers can use the information in consultancy with clients when one element is strong or lacking,” he said.

]]>http://astrologynewsservice.com/articles/astrology-study-validates-popular-psychology-test/feed/0http://astrologynewsservice.com/articles/astrology-study-validates-popular-psychology-test/ANS Editorialhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AstrologyNewsService/~3/sHaoHVF3SXs/
http://astrologynewsservice.com/editorials/ans-editorial-5/#commentsMon, 02 Oct 2017 21:03:09 +0000http://astrologynewsservice.com/?p=2341“Never again,” said American psychologist Vernon E. Clark, “will it be possible to dismiss the astrological technique as a vague, spooky and mystical business, or as the plaything of undisciplined psychics, or as merely the profitable device of unscrupulous quacks.”

The late Dr. Clark believed himself to be on a roll. Over a two-year period between 1959 and 1961 the Baltimore, Md., psychologist had completed three different statistical tests designed to see if astrologers could correctly match individual birth charts with their rightful owners in blind controlled tests. In each test certain information was masked or kept from the researcher to reduce or eliminate bias.

Clark’s matching experiments demonstrated that astrologers could, with statistical significance, identify the professions of test subjects based solely on astrologically indicated talents, capabilities and proclivities. He also showed that astrologers were able to match birth charts with life stories and did equally well when identifying cerebral palsy victims based solely on astrological indications.

In each of the Clark experiments astrologers compared and paired the birth charts of real individuals with the bogus, made up birth maps for imaginary people residing in control groups. In each instance there was a 50-50 chance the astrologers would make the correct call, but they did much better.

Clark reported that in each of the three tests he conducted the odds were statistically significant at 100 to one against the likelihood the results occurred by chance. Getting this outcome for all three tests was an impressive accomplishment at the time and encouraged him to conclude:

“Those who, out of prejudice, wish to do so (question the outcomes) will have to remain silent or repeat these experiments for themselves.”

Circling the Wagons

As it turned out, astrology’s critics could find nothing to fault with the statistical methods used by Clark and his associates but refused to fall silent. Instead, they circled the wagons around the fiction that astrologers participating in the tests used extra sensory perception (ESP), not astrology, to produce the reported results.

The idea that the astrological premise cannot possibly be true is deeply ingrained in the minds of many deniers who believe astrology is not a plausible explanation for anything in the material world. Ergo, any matching study that produces a favorable result for astrology must necessarily be flawed in some way.

University of California (Berkley) graduate student Shawn Carlson clearly felt this way. Egged on by leaders of the CISCOP skeptical organization (now CSI), Carlson set out to trash an earlier matching study that showed individual subjects were able to identify their own astrologically prepared personality profile when presented with multiple options. This study was conducted by a group of Chicago astrologers led by astrologer Neil Marbell. The group started working on the study in 1976 and announced a successful outcome at a press conference years later in 1981.

Originally, the study was sponsored by the CSICOP skeptics but the cold-footed leaders of the organization pulled out for reasons that remain unexplained. Marbell completed the study with statisticians at the University of Wisconsin and other volunteers.

Carlson’s much ballyhooed matching study was all about discrediting the successful results claimed for the earlier study. In his Double Blind Study of Astrology, Carlson asked participants to complete multiple tasks. Specifically, astrologers were asked to match the birth charts of test subjects with psychological profiles prepared using California Psychological Inventory (CPI) guidelines. Test subjects, mostly students, were asked to see if they could pick their own CPI profile from a group that included their own plus profiles prepared for two other study participants. Still another test sought to determine if the subjects would fare any better if the profiles were prepared by professional astrologers based on astrological indications.

Results of Carson’s research were published in the prestigious science journal Nature in 1986, and were subsequently challenged by the late Suitbert Ertel of the GM Institute of Psychology in Gottingen, Germany. Carlson’s test methods also were independently challenged by psychologists Hans Eysenck and Joseph Vidmar.

Ertel’s critical assessment of the Carlson study was published in the Journal of Scientific Research (JSE). It raised fairness issues, questioned sample size, identified sampling errors, found flaws with the methodology used, and noted that careless data handling may have tainted the results. Ertel also questioned Carlson’s piecemeal approach to statistical analysis and refuted his claim that the study “made a strong case against natal astrology as practiced by reputable astrologers.”

The tests involving student volunteers were especially suspect. Ertel noted that half of the data ratings were so poor they could not be analyzed, and the half that could be analyzed was not carefully completed. More than one in three students failed to complete their assignments. And the students were unable to identify their own CPI profile from a choice of three to a significant level.

On the other hand, the astrologers performed considerably better than Carlson reported. Based on a reanalysis of the data, Ertel confirmed that the astrologers were able to select the correct profile as either their first or second choice at a rate significantly better than expected by chance. And, in a separate test, they were able to identify which profile was the poorest fit, a finding that also contradicted Carlson’s original claim.

Sorting Conflicting Claims

Conflicting claims can be difficult to sort. What should cheer astrologers everywhere is the growing body of solid physical evidence is less easy for deniers to refute. More efficient computer systems and software programs are revolutionizing the ways astrologers are demonstrating the validity of astrological truth claims in the current era. There’s even an astrological research protocol that effectively lays the ESP argument to rest.

Vernon Clark was obviously a few steps ahead of himself when he suggested it will never again be possible to dismiss the astrological technique as a vague, spooky and mystical business or as the plaything of undisciplined psychics. But his thoughts were clearly racing ahead in the right direction.

]]>http://astrologynewsservice.com/editorials/ans-editorial-5/feed/0http://astrologynewsservice.com/editorials/ans-editorial-5/The Physics of Astrology Explainedhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AstrologyNewsService/~3/xbDiwh81-vg/
http://astrologynewsservice.com/opinion/the-physics-of-astrology-explained/#commentsTue, 19 Sep 2017 13:30:43 +0000http://astrologynewsservice.com/?p=2336The most common question we astrologers get from sceptics is: What is the physical mechanism by which celestial bodies influence our life?

Sceptics like to say that astrology is a pseudoscience because no scientific proof exists that there’s a physical mechanism by which celestial bodies affect our thinking or decision-making processes.

The good news for astrologers is that to answer these sceptics’ questions, we don’t really need specific scientific experiments or measurements as proof. Instead, we need only observe what is obvious and gather information that’s readily available.

The number one physical mechanism by which celestial bodies affect our bodies and brains is gravity. If the Moon creates tides in the oceans and atmosphere, how difficult is it to believe that the Moon creates tides also in humans, animals, and the rest of nature?

Lunar Tides Phenomenon

Mention to a sceptic this “lunar tides” phenomenon—that our brains consist of 78% water and our bones 22% water—and the fact that the Moon’s gravity affects us all should become obvious. We are very much liquid, and this alone explains a lot–including the fact that the Moon’s gravitational pull on us does not require further proof.

Also, it’s easy to see that the Moon isn’t the only celestial body that possesses gravity, and that other celestial bodies create similar tidal effects in the Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, nature, stones, humans, and animals.

In short, gravity affects everything!

Next a sceptic might ask: Exactly how does lunar gravity cause me to think in a certain way?

Keep in mind that we live in a pool of gravitational waves that originate from celestial bodies in constant motion in relation to us. These waves have a circular shape, and their direction is aligned with that of planetary motion. Planets orbit the Sun. The Moon orbits the Earth.

Gravitational waves, while propagating through space, act similarly to waves in the ocean. Each wave possesses its own attributes and qualities, such as frequency, amplitude, and direction of propagation.

An Oceanic Perspective

Imagine yourself in a small boat on the ocean. A big wave comes in and your boat rises onto the tip of the wave. The wave moves in a certain direction and carries a certain energy to push the boat in that direction. The boat moves in the direction in which the wave pushes it, whether you want it to or not.

This explains the frequent feeling people experience that–even though they seemingly make proactive decisions–circumstances pull or push them in a certain direction, one over which they actually have no control.

Here’s another way to understand how our watery brain “makes decisions” while floating in the pool of gravitational waves: Picture the movement of a river and watch as all water particles of the river flow in the same direction. When the river’s water meets an obstacle, it simply finds a way around it.

Now imagine yourself driving down a highway. If you watch a busy highway from a bird’s-eye view, it might remind you of a river. If the car in front of you slows down, you must find another way to move at the speed you want by deciding to switch lanes. Have you ever thought about what exactly prompted you to make that decision?

Human life, in general, is similar to a river or a highway. We find ourselves always in a current of events and circumstances. Often, it’s much easier to make decisions in line with the current then to go against the flow–especially since swimming upstream against the current can be nearly impossible.

Let’s look at the issue from another angle: Most people believe their thoughts and decisions originate from their brain. However, in reality, thoughts in the brain are secondary.

First, we receive external information. Either we see, hear, taste, smell, or feel something with our skin. Next, our brain processes the information and makes a decision. Our brain is never isolated from its external environment. If it was, it would never be able to render a decision.

Our Vibrational Environment

All information we receive from the external environment is vibrational. We are like a radio. Our whole body is like an antenna, which has a system of five sophisticated amplifiers, resonating with five different ranges of frequencies that we call our five senses. Through these five senses, we receive information that our brain analyses. Based on this analysis, we “make a decision.”

Do we receive any other vibrational information that is outside the range of our hearing or beyond our visible spectrum that’s not processed through other senses? Of course, we do–we receive all kinds of vibrational information! We’re bombarded with electromagnetic and gravitational waves of a very wide spectrum.

The lower frequencies of that spectrum fall as low as 248 years per cycle (Pluto’s orbit around the Sun) and even lower. The higher frequencies of that spectrum rise as high as 4×1014 cycle per second (Hz) (visible red light) and higher. Our body and brain is designed in such a way that we can only process a small portion of information consciously. The rest is processed subconsciously.

Quite simply, we’re designed to process only immediate circumstantial information. A big wave of a very low frequency, like Pluto’s 248-year cycle, takes us in a direction that’s difficult to understand unless we’re lucky enough to have an astrology program at our disposal that enables us to more easily interpret such a wave.

Therefore, the physical mechanism by which celestial bodies affect us is vibrational in nature. We can call it a vibrational planetary signal, whereas the word “gravity” merely describes the low frequency spectrum of that signal. The planets send us signals that carry information about the direction in which we need to move.

Editor’s note: Nadia Mierau will be among the speakers at the Kepler research conference scheduled January 25–28 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Click here for more information on the conference.